Brazil

Brazil represents a major opportunity for growth thanks to the country’s infrastructure needs

We manage "VIABAHÍA", one of the main concessions in the state of Bahía. 681 kilometres that connect the country from north to south, between the BR-116 and BR-324, two fundamental trunk routes.

This contract was granted by the National Agency for Land Transport (ANTT) for a 25-year concession period.

The two sections of the highway provide a route between the three main cities in the state of Bahía. The BR-116 road forms a goods transport route which crosses the country from Fortaleza to the border parallel to the Atlantic coast with Uruguay. Bahía is Brazil’s second most popular tourist destination after Río de Janeiro, and an important commercial port.

681

km managed

13.026

Vehicles per day in 2019

1

% Traffic increase

Projects

Brasil has a network of 1,563.6 million kilometres of national highways and roads

BR-116: Feira de Santana – border with Minas Gerais

ROADIS manages the BR-116highway, which runs across the country from north to south, crossing the region of Bahía. In 2012, this highway’s financing was closed with Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).

BR-324: Salvador – Feira de Santana

ROADIS manages and operates the BR-324 highway, which connects the cities of Salvador de Bahía and Feira de Santana. In 2012, this highway’s financing was closed with Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).

ROADIS remains committed to Brazil, a country particularly in need of infrastructure investment.

As we have reported in previous years, the company is awaiting the end of the five-year rebalancing. With this system which is outlined in the VIABAHIA contract, the concession must be adapted to the economic and technical aspects to Brazil's economic reality and road system. Two realities which have experienced significant changes since the start of the concession; for example, a significant economic and social crisis in 2014-15 and a strong and unpredictable increase in the cost of certain critical products such as asphalt.

The completion of the five-year rebalancing in conditions proposed by the company would leverage investment capacity of around R$3.3 billion above predictions. This offers greater safety and comfort for users who use our roads on a daily basis.

Despite the difficulties, ROADIS maintains 98% of VIABAHÍA sections with Good|Optimal classifications, according to a survey by the National Transport Confederation (CNT) conducted in October 2019.

Also this year VIABAHÍA completed the expansion of the BR-116 highway between the city of Feira de Santana and the intersection with the BR-242 highway. This covers an expansion of 76 kilometres, which pass through areas with high levels of traffic, such as the municipalities of Antônio Cardoso and Santo Estevão, located in the state of Bahía.
During the new edition of Idea Xeque (concession holder innovation contest), employees presented a total of 31 innovative ideas with various suggestions for improvement in various areas: operations, financial, human resources, etc.

In total, 14 ideas were selected to be studied by the evaluation committee, in order to define the 5 winning ideas for this edition.
The country is continuing to rebuild following the recession five years ago, when the economy declined by around 7%. Since then, Brazil has been unable to grow at the same pace as seen in the previous decade. However there has been a glimpse of economic improvement in Brazil, although it will be slow and affected by changes caused by the COVID-19 crisis during 2020. In 2019, the country's GDP grew by 0.9% and inflation grew slightly to 3.8% (compared to 3.7% in the previous year).

The Brazilian government assures that the worst is over with regards to the economy; and at the same time, it has not indicated that it wants to loosen austerity or strict fiscal discipline measures. Government debt is currently 91.6% with a deficit of 6.3%, which was expected to decrease slightly before the outbreak of COVID-19.

Brazil’s unemployment rate remains high, reaching 11.8% in 2019. However, the Government believes that the actual figures are much higher. An official study on employment indicated that 28.3 million people were underemployed; i.e. either they do not work, or they work less than they could. Also, even those who are employed usually have informal jobs. Changes to unemployment will obviously be affected by the rate of recovery after the COVID-19 crisis.

Otherwise, the country continues to tackle significant social problems, and it has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world. Although Brazil has brought 28 million people out of poverty in the past 15 years, 10% of the population is still poor. The richest 5% of the country earns the same as the remaining 95%.
The Brazilian road network is the country's primary logistics system; transporting 61.1% of the country's freight. It has a network of 1,563.6 million kilometres of national highways and roads (the fourth biggest in the world). This road network is the primary means of transportation for both freight and passengers.

The toll highway sector in Brazil is made up of 47 private companies in 12 states.

The 47 companies (16 federal concessions, 30 state concessions and 1 municipal concession) manage 15,251 kilometres, which is equivalent to 7.26% of the total paved road network.

The Brazilian Government continues to work to resolve the bottlenecks that affect the sector:

• Resolution 5,860/2019 was passed and published in addition to Law 13,448/2017 which establishes the method to quantify potential compensation if the project decides to return the concession to the grantor.

• Resolution 5,859/2019 was passed and published which establishes the requirement and terms which govern the review of concession contracts in the fifth year.

The traffic index published by ABCR reported an annual increase of 1.1% through to December 2019 - the light vehicles index increased annually by 0.9%, whilst the heavy vehicle index reported an annual increase of 1.7%.

The highway offer pipeline provides for 6 auctions (only at federal level), in addition to the 4 auctions held between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020.

How does ROADIS create value in the communities?

VIABAHÍA has a clear mission to manage the highway responsibly, contributing to the development of the state of Bahía through interaction with its people and communities, with added value for the sustainable development of Brazil. To do this, the concession holder has been developing projects to encourage awareness, participation, education and health. Actions designed to benefit highway users and communities near to our operation.

VIABAHÍA maintains a close relationship with the communities next to the highways which we manage, particularly those that are in some way impacted by the works or services carried out by the concession holder.

Whenever needed or requested, the concession holder participates in meetings with communities, councils and different organizations through the institutional relations area. Through various communication channels, such as the freephone, Twitter, email, customer care department and the ombudsman, VIABAHÍA provides an open and continual channel for dialogue which meets the needs of the parties in question.

Another important aspect of our CSR policy is that the 27 municipalities in our area of influence receive the ISS (Service Tax) collected from the tolls. R$182 million has been transferred since the start of the operation, thus contributing to regional economic development.

Know our CR projects

Awards and certifications

VIABAHIA has

ISO 9001 certification: 2015

VIABAHIA has

ISO 14001 certification: 2015

VIABAHÍA was recognised with the "Champion Awakening" award for the social and environmental actions developed throughout the year with communities next to managed roads..

Associations

to which the SBU belongs

ABCR Associação Brasileira de Concessionárias de Rodovias

ABDI Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development

Brazil

Brazil represents a major opportunity for growth thanks to the country’s infrastructure needs

681

13.026

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Projects

How does ROADIS create value in the communities?

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